The present invention relates to optical fiber products and, more particularly, to optical fiber storage products and methods for using the same.
Optical fiber networks are increasingly being installed to support high-speed voice and data communications. Increasingly, the optical fiber coupling is being expanded out from the central office of the communication service provider companies, such as Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs) to the subscriber locations, such as homes or businesses, where conventional copper wiring was conventionally used.
In various locations in a fiber optic network, fibers must be spliced or the like in an organized fashion. Fiber splice trays or the like may be used to provide such splices in an organized fashion. However, various applications may have limited space available for receiving such splice trays, which may constrain the ability to provide a suitable splice tray. Furthermore, conventional splice trays are typically flat and nonmoving, thus, generally requiring the splice technician to manually load and extract the fibers from the tray.
Storing and removing all the fibers at the same time may be an important feature in maintaining a randomly loaded splice tray. For example, fiber 4 may be spliced day one and fiber 6 may be spliced day 2 and the rest may be spliced over a period of time in a random order for a randomly loaded splice tray. If all the fibers are not completely unbundled each time a splice is made, an unmanageable rat's nest of tangled fibers may result from repeated access for adding fiber splices.